Sam Liccardo was elected the 65th Mayor of San José on Nov. 4, 2014. From 2007-2014, he represented San José’s Third District on the San José City Council, one of the most diverse communities in the city, where he focused on improving public safety, revitalizing the Downtown, expanding affordable housing, and making San José an environmental leader.

Prior to winning election to City Council, Sam served in the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor of sexual assault and child exploitation crimes and as a federal prosecutor. His work in the community includes teaching political science at San José State University, co-founding a program (“1,000 Hearts for 1,000 Minds”) to expand tutoring for low-income elementary school students, supporting the launch of the innovative college preparatory school (Cristo Rey San José) to launch low-income students to a college-going path, serving on the boards of several affordable housing organizations, and advocating for two successful countywide transit ballot measures responsible for bringing BART to San José.

Sam and his wife, Jessica García-Kohl, live in Downtown’s Northside, which boasts San José’s oldest neighborhood association. Sam and Jessica live a block from where Jessica grew up, and a dozen blocks from the neighborhood grocery store that Sam’s paternal grandparents operated in the 1940s and ’50s. On his mother’s side, Sam’s ancestors were among the first Mexican settlers in the Bay Area, while his maternal grandmother emigrated from Ireland.

After graduating from Bellarmine College Prep in San José, Sam attended Georgetown University. Sam was captain of the Georgetown heavyweight crew, and graduated magna cum laude in 1991. Two years later, he enrolled at Harvard Law School and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and graduated with a law degree and a master’s degree in public policy in 1996, when he returned to the Bay Area.

Sam has served in several regional leadership roles during his tenure as a councilmember, including as President of the Santa Clara County Cities Association, Chair of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, and on the executive boards of the Association of Bay Area Governments and Association and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. He is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum, and of the Aspen Institute’s Rodel Fellowship.

The City of San Joséis committed to open and honest government and strives to consistently meet the community’s expectations by providing excellent service, in a positive and timely manner, and in the full view of the public.